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Nidah 53

A KESEM FOLLOWED BY SEEING BLOOD OPINIONS: There is an argument between Rebbi and Rebbi Shimon Ben Elazar in a case where a woman saw a Kesem and afterwards she saw Nidah blood.

1. RASHI explains, that according to Rebbi, if a woman saw a Kesem and then saw Nidah blood on the next day, we treat the Kesem as Dam Nidah. This has two implications: (1) Firstly, we do not assert that she is Tamei for Kodshim and Taharos retroactively from the last washing of the garment. (2) We also count the days of Nidah from the sighting of the Kesem, such that she may be Toveles seven days after the Kesem was found and she does not need to count seven days from when the Dam Nidah started. We also count the 7/11 Nidah/Zavah cycle based on when she saw the Kesem and not based on when she saw the Dam Nidah, such that if she saw blood on the eighth day after the Kesem (which is he seventh day after she saw Dam Nidah) she would be a Zavah Ketanah.

   According to Rebbi Shimon Ben Elazar, we would only say that a Kesem before Dam Nidah is considered Dam Nidah if it was seen on the same day as the Dam Nidah. If it was seen the day before, it would be treated as a regular Kesem.

2. RABBEINU CHANANEL (quoted by Tosfos DH she'Hu) explains that both Rebbi and Rebbi Shimon Ben Elazar are referring only to a Kesem seen on the same day as the Dam Nidah. According to Rebbi, such a Kesem is a full-fledged Kesem and is Metamei retroactively for a day. Rebbi Shimon Ben Elazar rules that such a Kesem is not Metamei a person retroactively for a day.

3. The RITVA sets up the case like Rashi, that the Kesem was found the day before the Dam Nidah. The implications of the argument between Rebbi and Rebbi Shimon ben Elazar are the following: (1) According to Rebbi, the Kesem can be associated with the Nidah blood and will not be Metamei retroactively. According to Rebbi Shimon Ben Elazar the Kesem is not associated with the Nidah blood and will be Metamei retroactively (like (1) of Rashi's explanation). (2) According to Rebbi there is a risk that a woman might inadvertently confuse her counting because of the Kesem, since we are in some measure associating it with the Dam Nidah. According to Rebbi Shimon Ben Elazar, there is no such risk since it is treated as a regular Kesem.

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